The partners of Bruce Thomas Lawyers have extensive experience in all types of liability claims.  We are able to assist you with public liability and product liability claims, whether for personal injury pursuant to the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act or for property damage, business interruption and consequential losses.

In addition, we provide a level of bespoke service and partnership that other firms do not. Our lower costs do not compromise our service and detailed reporting and communication.  Our partners have specialist expertise in a number of areas:

• Complex Third Party claims – ensuring optimum recovery from contributors and vigorously using all available processes to bring them to the table
• Pure psychiatric claims – careful investigation of causation and factual issues to optimise prospects of successful defence, particularly through early intervention in the statutory claim.
• Catastrophic claims – sensitive and effective management of spinal, head and amputation injuries and fatalities to minimise exposure and maximise outcomes for our client and genuinely injured workers.
• Asbestos, chemical exposure and latent onset claims – we have more experience in these claims than any other solicitors managing workers compensation claims in Queensland, providing specialist knowledge to maximise outcomes and recovery of contribution
• Insurance and indemnity issues – our partners have extensive experience in policy interpretation and the operation of the Insurance Contracts Act 1984
• Cross jurisdictional claims involving competing laws of the States of Australia and international law.
• Maritime and transport claims, involving claims against international vessels and hauliers
• Disaster and catastrophic property damage, fire, storm, flood and other damage
• Professional indemnity – we have managed claims against accountants, financial advisors, investment platforms, engineers and builders.
• Medical negligence – we have a wealth of experience acting for doctors, surgeons, hospitals and dentists.
• Court experience – our partners identify the claims that require full defence and litigation, resulting in numerous reported judgments favourable to defendants that have dismissed claims.
• Coronial Inquests.
• Tribunals – we have considerable experience representing clients in the Tribunals that are now governed under the QCAT regime.
• Discrimination claims at state and federal level.

Factual Investigations

Our lawyers conduct the factual investigation work for the matters they are handling, saving you time and money.  Our approach avoids delays and allows you to control what disclosable documents are produced from that investigation.  This provides you and your clients with significant tactical advantage, particularly in procedural environments requiring ever increasing disclosure.

Just as importantly our direct investigations: 

• Get the right questions asked.
• Enable us to assess the people providing statements.
• Give us a better understanding of the claim (which you cannot always get from a second hand description of the facts).
• Give us a better understanding of your client’s businesses and practices, providing efficiencies for regular clients.
• Help build relationships with your clients, improving the value of the service offering you provide them.
• Ensure claims are investigated rapidly and usually at reduced cost compared to the use of independent investigators.

That understanding in turn helps us manage your claims more efficiently which increases the savings for you and the simplicity in which claims are handled and communicated.

Audit role

In addition to our processes and training to upskill your team members, we are able to provide a comprehensive in house audit of your claims portfolio, or your client’s claims portfolio, in any or all of these respects:

• Claims management
• Claims reserving
• Claims compliance with ever changing case law and new legislation

Using and relying on obsolete policies and documents is a major claims risk. We eliminate these risks with our proactive approach to claims management.

We provide a thorough report tailored to your requirements on all aspects requested.

We have found that portfolio reserving practices and actual reserves are a well appreciated external audit product.        

In-house Clinics and Training

We will, if requested, provide In-house Issues Clinics tailored to assist in a unique way, which not only solves immediate issues and deals with problem files in a timely manner, but also provides positive upskilling for your claims team.  The Clinic:

• Is designed to add significant value to the legal services we supply, at little additional cost, by providing an experienced lawyer to meet with case handlers and team managers in house to deal with specific issues arising on matters.  
• Will enable issues on matters to be raised and assessed both by the manager, and if approved, by our lawyer, in a timely fashion.
• Will assist with quick processing of matters, and remove logjams which may sometimes occur.

We tailor a protocol for the Clinic to filter the matters which are dealt with at the clinic efficiently.  Accordingly, your claims managers and management generally can be confident that only matters which have been considered by the claims handler and signed off by the team manager are included in the Clinic.  

The Clinic entails our lawyer attending to consider and advise on legal, technical and strategic issues concerning claims raised by individual Case Managers.  Further, if there are issues of general importance arising in several matters, they may also be raised.